2018

Dry farming is good for the earth & good for Wine

May 2018

Dry farming isn't a new concept, but it has taken on renewed significance in the last decade. Plants can’t talk. But any gardener knows that if you listen and pay attention, your plants will tell you what they need. Brown sunburned spots on the leaves say it’s getting too much sun. A lemony yellow tinge can mean too much water. A droopy stem is a plant’s way of saying “I’m thirsty.”

April 2018

Fruition's Thibaut Scholasch, is featured on The Inside Winemaking Podcast with Jim Duane. The conversation focuses on technical viticulture and the vineyard services that Fruition Sciences provides. Jim and Thibaut go into how these services track vineyard data and how grape growers and winemakers can use the data to make more informed vineyard decisions. The Vintage Report seminar is touched upon.

2017

Why labor shortage and data utilization are the major challenges in AgTech

November 2017

In an industry like AgTech, it’s important to bring together the different stakeholders— governments, farmers, tech companies, and representation of countries from all over the world—in order to unite and solve the most important challenge to us all today: scientists are predicting our population will increase by another billion people by 2020. How do we feed them all?

Uncorking innovation with Treasury Wine Estates in Napa

Febuary 2017

The ancient craft of wine making conjures romantic notions of hand-picked vines, and bare feet crushing grapes. However, wine production today is a thoroughly high-tech affair. Degree programs in viticulture and oenology, from Cornell University to UC Davis, reflect advances in the industry. Professors and courses there now focus on topics like “environmental control, and modified atmospheres,” “the genetic engineering of industrial microorganisms,” or “analytical instrumentation,” to name a few.

2015

California water woes continue

May 2015

The goal is to measure real-time behavior of plants to make sure they are adapting to the amount of water instead of watering when plants look dry. It’s easier said than done and according to some experts, even the best technology may not be enough to save the day.

June 2015

There are some visible symptoms that will show when the vine is in need of water, but it may be too late," Fernandez said. "With this technology we're seeing real time, we can catch the time when the vines really need water."

California Wine: Grapes Are Drought-Tolerant, Not Invincible

April 2015

There is a certain level of tolerance that the plant can live with without affecting its activity. You can cut about 40 percent of water from vineyards. We are trying to untrain people from relying on what they see with their eyes.

When science meets vine

September 2014

Wherever I was going, France, Australia, Chile, California, people faced the same challenge: how to measure the irrigation effect on the vine», Thibaut Scholasch remembers. Thibaut and Sébastien created Fruition Sciences in 2008 trying to solve that dilemma that is directly linked to the plant physiology.

Using Blue Tech to Save Our Water

December 2014

Recently, Imagine H2O supported the growth of Fruition Sciences, a company whose "sap flow sensors" help farmers and vintners decide precisely how much irrigation is needed to produce their ideal crop so that no water is wasted.

Podcast - Fighting drought technology (start at 4'20)

December 2014

[Sap flow sensor] is sending signals, it is immediately available on your iphone or on any web-connected device and you get an alert that say "hey, I am thirsty, please give me some drink". But the plant on Fruition Sciences' side of the vineyard never gave the signal for more water, which translated into a 100% water savings. [...] "The quality that you saw on a dry-farmed vs the irrigated portion, by taste the dry-farmed was superior", Ron Nicholsen, Kelham Vineyard.

October 2014

“This year, with the use of our sensors applied on the plant itself, we finally scientifically proved that plant-based irrigation was more efficient and less costly than the traditional irrigation treatment,” explained Thibaut Scholasch, the co-founder of Oakland, Calif.-based startup Fruition Sciences. “Using less water didn’t affect the harvest, au contraire, it actually improved the grapes’ quality.”

Grow more food with less water? There's an app for that

September 2014

Oakland, California-based Fruition Scienceshas created a web application that crunches data from more than 40 sensors to determine whether crops need more water. The system tracks crop nutrient uptake, aerial photos, and weather and soil conditions. One special sensor tracks sap flowing through grapevines. [...] “So far we have saved anywhere from 40% to 100% of water used for irrigation,” Scholasch said.

August 2014

This start-up is distinguished for its EDENOV project (that stands in French for Data Integration and Expertise for a New Generation of Viticulture Tools). This is a decision tool for grape growers that can optimize their vines management, in particular by reducing their water usage. It incorporates a great amount of data coming from sensors with innovative methodologies of data analytics and knowledge engineering.

Fruition Sciences is paving the way for more innovation and disruptive technologies to enter the wine industry.

July 2014

Fruition Sciences is paving the way for more innovation and disruptive technologies to enter the wine industry. The two main domains where you can witness the biggest impact of new technologies are:

Water consumption: In California, 80% of water is for agricultural use. We are currently working with the Metropolitan water District of Los Angeles to help reduce water consumption in agriculture so that more water remains available for domestic use. By disseminating our concepts and plant measurement methods among farmers and winemakers, we can explain to them how new technologies (including our own) can help optimize water consumption and reduce production costs.

Land use: Combining sensors like the ones we have developed with new mapping technologies, winemakers can better define uniform areas within a vineyard. These technologies can help winemakers to fine-tune their settings area per area. It is a dramatic change for yield management and to improve uniformity in fruit composition.

Estimates show farmers can cut water usage by 20 to 50 percent.

June 2014

Farmers have been training their plants to be addicted to water, Scholasch says. Not only can some get by with less, many can thrive — particularly the grapes key to California’s famous wine industry. His company’s product is a bracelet worn by vines that transmits data in real time. An algorithm spits out information advising farmers on exactly when and how much to irrigate their crops, taking the guesswork (and overwatering) out of irrigation. Scholasch says estimates show farmers can cut water usage by 20 to 50 percent.

French-American friendship lives it up!

June 2014

For the Sustainability and Life Science, the award goes to Fruition Sciences, whose ambassador (Virginie Mercier) congratulated the French-American Business Awards initiative. Did you know the Internet of Things? Fruition introduces the Internet of Vines!

Le flux de sève pour guider l'irrigation

Managing water stress

June 2014

In minervois, the vineyard of Ostal Cazes, property of Jean-Michel Cazes estate, irrigates according to the needs of the plant thanks to the continuous recording of sap flow, a technology developed by Fruition Sciences.

“It's not about seeking increased efficiency, but about maintaining levels of production and optimizing grape quality.”

WiFi connected vines

April 2014

“Now my vineyard team knows when and how much to irrigate the vines. That enables us to use less water, confirms Daniel Baron, technical director of Silver Oak and Twomey Cellars vineyards. Thus, the time between irrigations has stretched. The end result is grapes with more character and a better tannin structure in the wine.”

New tech saps vine water use

Mr. Fernandez opted to try the Fruition Sciences data package with sap sensors after using pressure bombs to gauge transpiration for two decades.

March 2014

After just one season of watering vines in Shafer Vineyards’ Napa Valley estate property by a relatively new method of tracking real-time data on how much soil moisture they actually need, Director of Winemaking Elias Fernandez estimates he cut water use by as much as 100,000 gallons in just those seven- and five-acre test blocks.

“If you can’t measure it, you can’t improve it!” (leitmotiv US)

March 2014

“Your sanity checks, vine water use measurements (from aerial pictures and stratified sampling), and fruit maturity analysis... All of this data is actually going to mean so much more when positioned on a map and correlated with other information. Fruition has created a mesh network of data that is going to disrupt the role of consultants, technical institutes and experimental research. Fruition's system will self-generate all data that is currently established through means of models, reference sites, observatories...” (Bruno Tisseyre, Professor in Precision Agriculture at Montpellier SupAgro).

Garage21 - Mar. 28, 2014

Fruition Sciences met French President in San Francisco to talk about innovation.

February 2014

Fruition Sciences - founded 6 years ago by 2 Frenchmen- is now the leader in vineyard water use monitoring. Its cutting-edge technology consists of sensors installed directly on the vine to monitor in real time its water needs.

Based in Montpellier and California, Fruition Sciences helps better understand terroir specificities and vintage conditions to improve fruit quality, yield and optimize resources. Fruition Sciences is now present in 4 countries (France, USA, Argentina and Italy) and works with more than 90 wineries, including prestigious Château Latour. Thibaut and Sébastien, the founders, have been honored to present their technology to the presidential delegation and share on what are the future key success factors.

New tech helps some farmers save water, but bigger concerns still loom

March 2014

“In the old days you would look at a vine and say, ‘Yeah, it looks like it needs water,’ and 60 percent of the time those decisions were probably the wrong thing to do,” said Fernandez of Shafer Vineyards, which is in Yountville, Calif., an hour north of San Francisco. “Today, with this, you can actually get into what the vine is sensing.”

Thanks to the monitoring devices supplied by Oakland-based Fruition Sciences, Shafer Vineyards says it has saved more than 160,000 gallons of water in the past year.

Dana Estates and Silver Oak Winery, also in Northern California, have also started using the sensor-software combo to keep an eye on their vines. Cameron Vawter, the director of winemaking at Dana Estates, says he has saved more than 2.5 million gallons of water annually across all three of Dana’s vineyards since adapting Fruition Sciences’ technology in 2006.

French from Silicon Valley

February 2014

Technology helps cut water usage in vineyards

Smart Water Usage

January 2014

There is now solid evidence that "a vineyard can sustain much less irrigation that it has had in the past", Scholasch said. Using technology developed by his firm, clients have demonstrated "you can reduce drastically irrigation without have negative impact on wine quality. This has been corroborated by both vineyard managers and winemakers."

What’s "really important," he continued, is for growers to "minimize irrigation prior to veraison (onset of ripening) — refrain from watering prior to veraison and then targeting more water following veraison (when grapes take on color). This is a big shift in opinion. In the old days, you gave (the vines) more water before — which only just increased what the plant wanted after veraison."

Vintage Report Innovation Award

January 2014

Bank of the West and Fruition Sciences recognized [on January 21st] the winner and two finalists of the Vintage Report Innovation Award Presented by Bank of the West for their demonstration of innovation and sustainability in viticulture.

2013

Bacchus to the future

November 2013

A vine’s water-use can be measured just as accurately. Fruition Sciences, a company founded by two French graduate students, applies heat sensors to vine branches to measure how fast sap flows through them, and thus how much water is transpiring through the plant. The sensors wirelessly transmit the data every 15 minutes, and send an alert if irrigation is needed.

Always on: High-tech wine

October 2013

High tech is having quite an impact in Napa Valley, one of the world premiere wine destinations. Vintners are using new tech tools to help them in the winemaking process.

At Dana Estates, in the Napa Valley, head winemaker Cameron Vawter is using a technology from Oakland-based Fruition Sciences. It can essentially measure a vine's heart beat using sensors. "Using that [technology], we can make decisions about whether we add an irrigation or whether we hold an irrigation", says Vawter. It shows on a detailed graph how much water is needed by the month, by the day, even by the minute. "It can make a huge difference in the quality of the wine. Using this technology, we started dryfarming a lot of our vineyards. I have vineyards today that have still to this day been non irrigated in 2013, which is a very dry vintage here in Napa Valley and especially here at Dana Estates."

Cabernet in the cloud: the ancient art of winemaking gets a high-tech boost

August 2013

Shafer Vineyards has a few new hi-tech systems to thank. "It's always good to look at technology and use it to see if your gut was the correct way to go after all," Fernandez tells The Verge. [...] "It used to be, we'd just go by feel, and say let's put out five gallons of water per plant," Fernandez says. "With Fruition you can tell if 5 gallons was way too much or not enough."

This company’s water-saving efforts come to Fruition

August 2013

Here's what happens when wine and geeks mix

August 2013

"It's hard to quantify, but we learned a lot about how to farm our vineyard to be optimal," Austin Peterson, winemaker at Ovid Napa Valley, a St. Helena, Calif.-based winery told us.

"As a consequence of that, we've seen improvement in our wines. Our last couple of vintages got our best scores yet."

"We’re getting better fruit character, and the tannin structure has changed in experimental blocks," Baron said. "We’ll need a few more years to understand the changes, but I’m convinced enough to continue to do it, even if the only benefit is the water savings."

Lender looks to reward winery innovations

July 2013

The award recognizes "innovation and experimentation in viticulture" and will fete top achievements during the 2013 vintage. The honor will note groundbreaking methods, practices and approaches during the harvesting season. And, yes, the bank wants to honor wineries that practice sustainability.

When does a vintner water his grapes?

February 2013

Most of the people trust experience, a few of them rely upon what the neighbor does. When in doubt, one often considers that "more is better". This is untrue says Thibaut Scholasch. With his business partner Sebastien Payen, he brings new technology in the vineyard. This not only saves on water use but it even improves the wine taste.

2012

Stags Leap Harvest Immersion - Terroirist

October 2012

We then headed into the lab, where Remi walked me through the science of irrigation management by showing me the computer software from Fruition Sciences. It was tremendously geeky — and absolutely fascinating. (In fact, Wired just published an in-depth feature on the company.

The Vine Nerds - Wired

October 2012

To a growing cadre of A-list winemakers, there’s actionable intelligence in the data. Many of Fruition’s clients are altering their irrigation techniques, turning laggard vineyards into top performers and using far less water than they ever imagined. Along the way they’re extracting lessons that could extend far beyond this rarified corner of agriculture. By gaining insight into the relationships between water, sunlight, yield, and taste, Fruition Sciences is showing the way for farmers of all stripes to increase productivity and quality in a world of shifting weather patterns and decreasing supplies of freshwater.

TriplePundit Web site

March 2012

Already, the Bay Area is home to a number of innovative water startups taking advantage of this opportunity. Companies like Driptech and NextDrop help people in underdeveloped regions through advanced irrigation techniques, and others like Fruition Sciences and WaterSmart take a highly scientific approach to water conservation.

2011

Robb Report Web site

December 2011

In creating the 2008 Ovid Napa Valley ($185), head winemaker Austin Peterson implemented a new technology that allowed him to enhance the wine well before its debut this fall. Developed by Oakland, Calif.–based Fruition Sciences, this technology allows winemakers to track how much water is being absorbed by the vines in real time ...

Wines & Vines - Wireless Water Sensing

July 2011

David Gates, vice president of vineyard operations at Ridge Vineyards, has installed a sophisticated tool for tracking field conditions and measuring the transpiration rates of vines planted at the winery’s Monte Bello Vineyard in Cupertino, Calif. The vineyard team collaborated with technicians from Fruition Sciences to build a network of sensors that reduces water consumption and improves the quality of the grapes.

2010

Water Canada Web site

November 2010

By bringing more science to the table, we felt we could get people to rethink the way they water, and also the way they plant and choose varietals—all of these issues are connected to sustainability and water conservation.

Wines & Vines Web site

November 2010

Overall, the late season start, combined with the high soil moisture availability, maintained a high level of water supply to the vine until later in the season (i.e. veraison). This caused the level of vine water use to be high compared to previous years. The consequences of that are: a) Delayed maturation / b) Larger berry size.

A lesson from Napanook vineyard

March 2010

The water equation is a tricky one. But I've rarely seen it summed up so succintly as in a Powerpoint slide prepared by Thibaut Scholasch of Fruition Sciences, one of Moueix's consultants, who works for a handful of other top names: Ridge, Dana Estates, Ovid, Harlan, Araujo, Spottswoode and so on. (Fruition's work with precise water-need measures are limited to those with deep pockets, as witnessed by that list. The hope is that the emerging technology will grow more affordable in time.

In Napa, a new path to using less water

March 2010

Scholasch believes not only that too much water is used in vineyards, but that poor water management adds costs and waste all through the winemaking process - leading to weaker flavors, less productive vineyards (the ripe style can require severe cropping) and extra effort in the winery (as water is added and the wine's chemistry corrected).

Winner of the Imagine H2O Prize

March 2010

Fruition Sciences, which operates in both California and France, came first among 50 teams in Imagine H2O's global competition aimed at building a "Silicon Valley" for water. The prize rewards the business plans with the greatest promise of breakthroughs in the efficient use and supply of water, and Fruition was able to show significant water savings for nine California grape growers that used the monitor.